Before The Sun Rises
by Grumpr
Summary: Klaus runs into a familiar looking face when planning the final details for his arrival in Mystic Falls. Or: Nadia Petrova gets the scare of her long life when she realises the man at the airport bar is actually Klaus, the most feared and hated of the Originals. Set during TVD s2.


**Before The Sun Rises**

 **Synopsis** : It's a chance encounter that was never supposed to happen. Klaus runs into a familiar looking face when planning the final details for his arrival in Mystic Falls. Or: Nadia Petrova gets the scare of her long life when she realises the man at the airport bar is actually Klaus, the most feared and hated of the Originals.

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He first notices her as she walks past the bar. She looks a little familiar to him, but then he's met so many people over the past thousand years, it's hard to find someone who doesn't look like someone else he's met before. Brown hair is hardly an unusual colour in these parts of the world either. Still, there is something about her that makes him watch from the corner of his eye as he sips his drink while waiting for his flight. Maddox is already in the States and will get the plan in motion soon and Greta will take a later flight, so for now he finds himself at Heathrow airport without his usual company and frankly quite bored.

The girl is with a friend, a pretty little thing, hair a shade of light blonde that most children grow out off. Her black dress rides high on her thighs, attracting the gaze of many of the passers-by. Fleetingly he wonders if Rebekah would have liked the dress. His sister did always enjoy skirting the line of what was socially acceptable. But Rebekah is back in the storage here in London, lying in a coffin wearing the same dress she'd worn for Stefan all those years ago.

He relaxes his grip on his glass only when he hears the soft creaks that indicate it's about to break.

The two young women have paused on the other side of the lobby to check their cellphones. Klaus can barely make them out through the crowd, even as sparse as it is this late at night. They look frustrated. Perhaps their flight got delayed too.

In the end, it doesn't really matter. Klaus lets his own eyes rest on the familiar looking girl for another few moments before turning back to this drink and dismissing them from his mind.

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It's over twenty minutes and two drinks later when he looks up to see the two young women from before settling down at the other end of the airport bar. They look decidedly more frizzled than they did earlier and in need of a drink. His flight won't start boarding for another two hours, and it's on a whim that he gets up, his third drink in his hand as he wanders over to their end of the bar.

"Ladies," he greets the pair, setting his drink down next to the blonde. They look up, startled by his approach, but it is only the brown-haired girl that narrows her eyes at him.

"Well, hello there," the blonde says, smiling. The familiar looking girl stays silent.

"It's much too late at night to be drinking by myself," he says, gesturing at his recently vacated seat at the end of the bar and flashing a charming smile. "Please, allow me to buy you ladies a drink."

The blonde girl seems about to take him up on his offer, but her friend only glares.

"Leave us alone," the brunette orders, catching his eye. Her accent hints at an Eastern European background, perhaps Czech.

It takes him a moment to realise what exactly she tried to do, so unused he is to being on the other side of the compulsion process. Compulsion! He feels his face break out in a smirk and can barely contain himself from laughing. The girl had tried to compel _him_. Oh, the irony.

He lets himself take another good look at the girl and knowing she's a vampire, other details start to become clear. Her clothes are stylish, worn confidently, and the ease at which she tried to compel him suggests she's been a vampire for quite a while. The ring on her finger shows a hint of lapis lazuli, a detail he would have noticed earlier if he had cared to look. The silver of the ring looks old, as so many of their kind are nowadays. He estimates her to be over a few hundred years old at least. A quick glance reveals that her friend has no special jewellery, not on her fingers or around her neck. Likely not a vampire then.

"Oh come on, sweetheart, don't be like that," he says pleasantly. "You look like you could do with a drink. A _bloody_ Mary perhaps?" He catches the vampire's eyes, knowing smirk still firmly in place.

The vampire girl frowns again. She's likely upset her attempt at compulsion failed and no doubt wondering why. He knows the only two answers she will come up with are vampirism or vervain, and she should be able to smell his current body is entirely human and free of compulsion preventing herbs. Her confusion is a delight to watch.

"Well, if you insist," the blonde human says as smiles at him, interrupting his thoughts. "I'll have a margarita, please."

Klaus' answering smile is as insincere as they come, but the girl will never know. "Of course, sweetheart."

He signals to the man behind the counter for two margaritas for the ladies and settles down on the seat, his eyes once again meeting those of the vampire girl.

She's studying him carefully, her eyes cautious. She really does so remind him of someone, but for the life of him he can't think of whom it might be. Perhaps he's met her before, centuries ago. Perhaps he's seen her as a girl in a different era, long before she became a vampire. The possibilities are endless, but the familiarity nags at him, like a puzzle put in front of him begging to be solved.

And then there is always the human friend. She's smiling at him again and probes for information.

"So does the mysterious stranger have a name?"

"My name is Klaus," he says, and he can see the vampire girl freeze. He smirks. _Smart girl._

Her friend doesn't seem to realise that she's standing three feet away from one of the oldest vampires to walk this earth, blissfully ignorant of the danger he could pose. In fact she seems quite taken with him, and Klaus would be flattered, really, if he wasn't currently inhabiting a certain Nick Craig's body. Young Nick was a handsome, dark-haired art history student, and all in all the irony was simply too great to pass up on. Not to mention the number of people on this side of the ocean that might recognise his true face had necessitated a certain measure of discretion. There are so few people he can trust these days.

"So where are you two ladies headed?" he asks, figuring he might as well engage in meaningless small talk. He can get amusement enough from watching the vampire girl get more and more unnerved whenever he smirks knowingly at her.

"Sofia for now, but we're planning to go to Prague soon after. Have you ever been?" The blonde girl leans forward and pushes up her décolleté in what was probably intended as a subtle move.

''Not recently. I spent some time in Bulgaria years ago. Visited a friend's relatives in the countryside. Very warm people." Or well, their blood had been warm at least, and he'd been positively drenched in it when he was done with Katerina's family.

The barman returns with the drinks for the two ladies. Klaus has already replaced his wallet contents with US dollars so he fishes a fifty pound note from his pocket. "Keep the change." The man stares for a second before he shrugs and takes the money.

The blonde girl is already gratefully sipping her drink. The vampire girl hasn't touched hers. He notices her eyes flickering to the departure signs, her body already half-turned to leave.

It's Katerina she reminds him of, he suddenly realises. There's something about her eyes and the way she holds herself, not to mention the fine bone structure in her face. He looks at her more closely then, noting the resemblance. The vampire girl before him even dresses similar to the modern day Katerina he'd seen in Isobel's memories. It's really no surprise he would be reminded of Katerina now. She has been on his mind ever since they had caught the Isobel woman sneaking around trying to find him. The young vampire had been no match for his powers of compulsion and the secrets she'd spilled had been enlightening indeed.

No, the girl may look like Katerina, but it's just as likely it's merely a result of him projecting his thoughts on her. He is on his way to meeting the next doppelgänger, after all. Recently those rare times he still dreamt his dreams have been filled with visions of Katerina and Tatia and even brief glimpses of Elena Gilbert based on the memories that he'd been able extract from Isobel's mind. It seems they have invaded his waking hours as well now. No matter, it will all be resolved soon.

"Come on, Livia. Our flight is leaving soon." The vampire girl tries to pull her friend away but the blonde – Livia – isn't budging.

"Not for another two hours, it's not." Livia looks at her friend like she was losing her mind. "You haven't even finished your drink yet."

Klaus raises his eyebrow in agreement. It's hardly polite to leave before touching one's drink, after all, but then his presence does seem to make some vampires delightfully nervous.

The girl does not share his amusement. "I want to make sure we get good seats," she lies, barely even attempting to make it sound convincing any more, casting a suspicious look in his direction.

He's about to make a comment on the rudeness of refusing to accept gifts, when suddenly his cellphone starts buzzing. He casts an apologetic look in the girls' direction. "Excuse me, sweethearts, business calls."

A disappointed look crosses the blonde girl's face, while the vampire girl only looks determined. He doesn't pause to talk further but turns to walk to the other end of the bar, answering the call as he goes.

"Why did you call me?"

"We have had reports that your brother is in town as well," Maddox tells him promptly.

Klaus frowns. "Elijah?"

There has always been a chance that his older brother might have heard of the doppelgänger and gotten involved too, but Klaus has to admit he had hoped they could avoid this possibility. It looks like he might be in for another family reunion, however. A dark look crosses his face as he remembers their last fateful meeting. Many things were said then that couldn't be unsaid. Elijah's involvement in Mystic Falls could prove to be annoying.

"Yes," Maddox answers, unaware of his leader's internal monologue. "As far as we can tell he's enlisted two witches, father and son. Their names are Jonas and Luka Martin."

That catches his attention. "Has Greta been informed?"

"Not yet. She won't get here for another few weeks so we thought we'd run it by you first."

"Good thinking. I want you to hold off on telling her for now. Let's try to see if we might be able convert them to our thinking first. Elijah, however, is a more immediate concern."

He pauses his pacing at his earlier seat at the bar and settles down. A quick glance down the bar tells him that the two women have left, but he's too busy adjusting their plans to these new developments to truly care.

"Did Isobel get back in touch with Katerina?"

Maddox hesitates. "There was a problem. Katerina is trapped in Mystic Falls."

"Trapped how?"

"There's a tomb under the old church. From what I can tell, your brother has compelled her to stay put until you arrive."

"Has he?" Klaus muses, surprised. "Well, that certainly saves us the trouble of tracking her down first."

For a moment he wonders. Then he remembers Elijah's face when he'd lied and told his brother their family was forever lost, remembers the rage in his brother's eyes when Elijah had sworn him coldly and firmly, "I will end you for this."

No, Elijah cannot be allowed to interfere.

"I'm going to need you to arrange for a dagger and white oak ash to be delivered to Isobel from our New York address post-haste. We can't have Elijah mucking up our plans. "

"Consider it done." Maddox states, reliable as always. "Would you like to contact Isobel personally?"

He considers it. "No, I'll be boarding soon. I'll leave it up to you to inform her. She can work out the details herself, but Elijah needs to be daggered by the time we arrive in town. I'm sure she can think of something."

"Will she take instructions from me?"

"Her compulsion will hold," Klaus confirms, rising from his seat, ready to wrap up the conversation. "Keep me informed on any new developments. I should arrive stateside within fourteen hours."

He waits for Maddox' confirmation before putting away his cellphone. His conversation can't have taken more than a few minutes, but when he turns to glance around the room is indeed empty. The vampire girl and her friend have long since left the bar. On the counter, a single untouched margarita still rests next to a hurriedly finished glass.

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Normally he might have tracked the girl down and killed her, or at the very least lured her away to a quiet corner and drank from her neck before compelling her to forget ever meeting him. Secrecy and caution have become some of his guiding principles over this past century. But Mikael hasn't been spotted in over a decade, and Nick Craig's body will be disposed of as soon as he arrives in Virginia, so instead he settles down at the bar and orders another bourbon. He's mildly surprised when from the corner of his eye he spots a familiar pair of women, walking through the crowd of people in the airport hall.

The surrounding noises are too many and too loud for him to detect what the blonde girl is saying, but the vampire's agitated movements and the way she keeps pulling the other girl along makes it clear she's still itching to leave.

He briefly considers going up to them again, to ask the brown-haired vampire once and for all what her relation, if any, is to Katerina, but decides against it. With his plans about to come to fruition and the ritual set to happen in the near future, he finds it hard to care about exploring this particular mystery. With her flight to Sofia leaving soon, the vampire girl is unlikely to be anywhere near Mystic Falls when his plan goes down either way, so the chances of her posing a problem are slim.

In the end he lets them go, his lips curling slightly when he sees the Livia girl look back one more time, cheerfully waving at him from the other side of the hall. Next to her, he is treated to the amusing sight of the vampire girl's barely contained fear as she meets his eyes across the hall. She breaks away her gaze immediately but he never takes his eyes off her until they leave for their gate to board. Overhead a calm woman's voice announces the impending departure of the flight to Sofia, Bulgaria.

Klaus sips his drink and his mind turns to other topics. He thinks of the lapis lazuli ring on his true body's finger back in the warehouse. He thinks of the full moon outside, of the way he doesn't feel that rush of slowly building aggression and yet senses its absence all the same. He thinks of Katerina locked in a tomb and soon to be within reach after half a millennium. He thinks of the four coffins in the storage in central London, of Rebekah still wearing the dress he'd bought for her birthday. He thinks of Elijah, of his brother having found Tatia's doppelgänger before him once again.

The moon is already past its apex, the sky outside already starting to lighten. The flight to Atlanta, Georgia will begin boarding in half an hour now. He orders one last drink. The shift has changed and it is a young woman this time who smiles while sliding him a scotch and smiles even wider when he gives her another fifty pound note in return and tells her to keep the change.

The next full moon will be in twenty-seven days. He clenches his hand around his glass. Not long now. He's worked towards this moment for a thousand years but the time is almost upon them. The next time the full moon rises he will no longer be bound to anything. The next time he sees the full moon, he'll finally be free.

He uncurls his hand slowly, carefully.

 _Soon_.

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 **A/N:** About Klaus not being compelled: the show is rather unclear about whether Klaus' vampire abilities still work in a human body, but since he was able to compel Katherine I'm assuming he would also be able to resist compulsion.

TVD time-line is still horrible but because I'm pretty sure Isobel got the dagger from Klaus, he must have been involved as early as 2x12. He only really makes an appearance a week later, but I figure he might at least get to the country with a week to spare. However, if anyone notices any glaring time-line mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them. I do try to stay true to canon when it suits me.

As always, any comments are highly appreciated.


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